John Clare – the celebrity bard, the ‘peasant
poet’;’drunkard’; ‘madman’; as famous
in his time as Keats – acquired many loyal
and enthusiastic patrons, among them
Bishop Marsh of Peterborough and his wife.
He sometimes stayed in the medieval palace.
On one occasion, Mrs Marsh took Clare
to see a performance by a touring
theatre company, whose repertoire
comprised French melodramas and Shakespeare’s plays.
The production that night was THE MERCHANT
OF VENICE. Clare sat through the first three acts –
in the box reserved for the Lord Bishop’s wife –
totally engrossed in the words and the actions,
oblivious of Mrs Marsh’s asking him
if he were enjoying the play. At the start
of the fourth act – set in a Venetian court –
he became agitated, and, at the point
where Shylock does not give the ‘gentle answer’
hoped for, Clare stood, shouting, “You villain,
you murderous villain!” – and leaped from the box
onto the stage. A couple of the more burly
actors prevented his reaching Shylock,
and strong armed him, with difficulty,
back into the box. As Mrs Marsh
tried to soothe the distracted poet,
the play was abandoned.
By David Selzer